A Case for Quantitative Reasoning

By Josh Recio, Course Program Specialist and Nikki Gavin-Swan, Math Faculty, Lane Community College @dtkung @Josh_Recio @utdanacenter  Josh Recio If you had a say in what mathematics you wanted your family members to fully understand, what would it be? What about your coworkers? Community members? What about yourself? Nikki Gavin-Swan There’s a safe bet that...

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“My Job is Awesome”

By Jen Bowen and Allison Henrich Dr. Yen Duong Dr. Yen Duong is a freelance science writer based in North Carolina. This is part of the interview that Jen Bowen did with her in March 2022. Duong earned her PhD at the University of Illinois at Chicago in geometric group theory and random groups. She...

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Testimonios: Dr. Hortensia Soto

Testimonios, a new publication from MAA/AMS, brings together first-person narratives from the vibrant, diverse, and complex Latinx and Hispanic mathematical community. Starting with childhood and family, the authors recount their own particular stories, highlighting their upbringing, education, and career paths. Testimonios seeks to inspire the next generation of Latinx and Hispanic mathematicians by featuring the...

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Questions to Ask to Identify a Supportive Graduate Program as a Woman or Gender Minority in Math

By Brittany Gelb, Kathryn Beck, Joy Hamlin, Hamidreza Mahmoudian, Nkhalo Malawo, Lucy Martinez, and Rebecca Whitman Brittany Gelb When I attended open houses as a prospective graduate student, I wanted to know: is this a program where I would feel supported and be able to thrive? In order to get that information, I remember asking...

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What we Learn from Trump’s Indictment about the Mathematical Community

By Della Dumbaugh Della Dumbaugh The process that led to the recent indictment of former president Donald Trump unwittingly offers some insights on strengthening our mathematical community.  In particular, the recent New York Times article, “How the D.A. Restructured the Case Against Trump: A Revamped Team and a Victory in Court Gave New Life to...

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Students Speak: Is it our fault for not measuring up after COVID?

By Sabrina Pawlak Sabrina Pawlak While there are technical ways to approach the question of how Covid affected students via testing, performance reviews, surveys, etc., I opted for an anecdotal approach. While this may not satisfy the conditions for extrapolation, I find it relevant to share my perspective—from what I experienced to what I have...

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Framing Figures: Math and Art with Donna Molinek, Grace Fahey and Anna West

By Tim Chartier, Davidson College Tim Chartier Turkish carpet-making, Renaissance art, M.C. Escher etchings, and modern work in 3D printing are a few examples of artistic work infused with deep mathematical ideas.  Math and art is an area of scholarly work and also suitable for the classroom.  Dr. Donna Molinek, Professor of Mathematics at Davidson...

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Monuments to Algebra

By Keith Devlin @KeithDevlin@fediscience.org François Viète, b.1540 in Fontenay-le-Comte, France, d.1603, in Paris, France 2020 was the year when much of the world’s attention was focused on the progression of the novel coronavirus disease COVID-19. So it’s hardly surprising that the mathematical world missed the news that a commemorative plaque had been placed on the...

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What is Quantitative Reasoning?

By: David Bressoud @dbressoud David Bressoud is DeWitt Wallace Professor Emeritus at Macalester College and former Director of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences. davidbressoud.org I was first introduced to the concept of quantitative reasoning (QR) through Lynn Steen and the 2001 book that he edited, Mathematics and Democracy: The Case for Quantitative Literacy....

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How Dare You Fall Asleep

By Lew Ludwig While I keep a relatively low-key persona in daily interactions, my Myers-Briggs is INTP. If you follow such things, you will be surprised by how outgoing I am in the classroom. I was fortunate enough to conduct my student teaching under George Schwipps, a high school math teacher described as “part game show...

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